37 - Menopause / Andropause - Hormones, Midlife Shifts & What No One Tells You - Mindful Objective

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Real Talk, the podcast where we get honest
about health, healing and everything in between.
I'm your host, doctor Daniel Spruill, integrative health
practitioner professor. Today we're exploring a topic
that deserves more attention, menopause.
It's something every woman will face, but may still feel very
confused, unsupported and flat out ignored when symptoms hit.
We'll also touch on Andropause, the lesser known male equivalent

(00:22):
of menopause, and why men often fly under the radar when it
comes to hormone shifts. Joining me today is Bernadette
Talley, a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience and
an author. Bernadette brings a rare and
powerful blend of both personal experience and conventional
medicine insight to this conversation.
She also walked through this transition herself and spent
decades guiding others from botha clinical and compassionate

(00:45):
perspective. This is going to be a real
relatable conversation about what's happening in the body,
what to expect, and what you canactually do to feel better
without shame and confusion. This podcast for educational
purposes only. We do not diagnose, treat or
cure any illness or disease. So let's get started.
So how you doing burn? I am doing fine and I'm happy to

(01:06):
say that I'm post menopausal finally menopause puberty's evil
older sister. Yeah, so please tell everyone
about yourself. I've been a nurse since 1987
ish. Had the privilege of working at
some pretty big name places, University of Chicago, Loyola,

(01:26):
Northwestern. Did a lot of work with women as
far as cross canter reconstruction and a lot of like
general kind of, you know, physicals and things like that.
It's been a long and varied career.
Now I'm doing some school nursing which is fun and I do
love. The calendar.
If you don't mind me asking, what is your age?

(01:46):
I am 68 years young. I'm younger than Moses.
You can just say that. And we know you're an author,
too. Yeah, if you wouldn't mind
telling people about all your different books.
Oh sure, absolutely. I have two books that are
currently on Amazon. They are under Bernadette Hansen
because I've married since then,so keep that in mind.
One of them is breast cancer. Silver lining, What you need to

(02:07):
know about your reconstructive options.
Most of that book is still very relevant, although I'm happy to
say that some of the informationis actually updated since the
book came out. The other one is 30 More Days
with Jesus which I just get chills still when I read it.
I love that book. It's just a daily devotional.
No, that's excellent. Yeah, Congrats on that.
The success of your books. Initial segment, one, we're

(02:30):
going to talk about perimenopause, the storm before
the storm. This is a subject I think not a
lot of people know. Perimenopause is the phase where
most women never see coming because no one talks about it.
It's not menopause, but that's when the body starts making
hormonal shifts that lead to it so burn.
Do you think that most men and women know about perimenopause?
I think it the confusion is thatyou don't know exactly when it's

(02:53):
coming and what symptoms you're going to get.
They used to tell us. In my day, they would say, if
you want to know what childbirthis like for you, ask your mom.
If you want to know what menopause will be like for you,
ask your mom. But then some of us got pushed
into it early against our wills.So there's just not enough
information at all. No one can really pinpoint it.
The thing's up, Anya. Yeah, because I see many posts

(03:14):
online and questions from women mentioning their symptoms and
automatically assume they're menopause.
Which understanding man messed up here.
I see many posts online and questions from women mentioning
their symptoms and automaticallyassume they're menopause and a
lot of people I don't think understand what perimenopause
is. I think that's where the
confusion is. Oh, that is true.
I had a friend, actually, a fellow nurse, and she was like

(03:36):
in her early 50s, and she had all these various symptoms and
she was freaked out. She was scared.
She had no idea what was going on.
She went to the doctor. She goes, I don't know if I'm
dying or I have a disease, what's going on?
And he goes, you know what? All of these fall under
menopause. And so she actually got, in her
case, a hormone supplement and actually had a good ending to
that story. But it can be really scary

(03:57):
because you don't know what's happening.
And some of these symptoms come together.
Some of them come all by themselves.
If you are suddenly hot, is it afever?
Is it an allergic reaction? What is it?
Perimenopause can begin as earlyin your late 30s, early 40s and
it's driven by a slow, uneven decline in progesterone
following later by fluctuating estrogen and testosterone.

(04:18):
Periods may still be regular or completely erratic.
You might feel completely normalone month and like a different
person the next month. So we're just touch on little
common signs on my side. Then I'll let you touch on
common signs you're aware of. Heavier, more painful periods,
anxiety or mood swings, Sleep disturbances, breast tenderness,
brain fog, midsection weight gain, shorter menstrual cycles.

(04:40):
And I know you have a longer list.
I do. I'll just be quickly going over
this. So hot flashes, but you can also
get a cold flash. I've had that where it feels
like a popsicle in the middle ofyour body and it just spreads
out. Nobody talks about the cold
flash. That is horrible night sweats.
Everybody knows about that clammy feeling, heart
palpitations. Am I having a heart attack or
what's going on? Irritability, mood swings?

(05:02):
Are you a woman? Is it because better from Mars
and more for Jupiter? I don't know.
Trouble sleeping, irregular periods, low sex drive, fatigue,
anxiety, lack of focus. What is that?
Am I getting older or am I having a problem?
I can't remember my where my keys were.
Faulty memory incontinence. That's a nice one, thank you for
that. Itchy, crawly skin, achy joints,

(05:23):
tense muscles, headaches, digestive issues, bloating on
top of of You come through puberty, menstruation, pregnancy
and delivery and now you have this to look forward to.
Weight gain, hair loss or thinning facial hair.
Wahoo. Vertigo change body odor?

(05:45):
That's a good one. Tingling of extremities,
bleeding gums, Chronic bad breath.
Osteoporosis, which is really a big thing for women, weakened
fingernails and ringing in the ears.
Now, would you ever put all of those under one umbrella?
Not at all. And I think the problem is many
women aren't told these systems could be hormonal.
They're mixed diagnosed with depression, anxiety and even

(06:07):
early menopause, when really it's perimenopause.
Exactly. You helped a lot of women as
being a nurse, and you also lived through this yourself.
So what was your first personal experience with perimenopause,
and how did your medical background influence how you
interpreted it? So I knew about the symptoms and
there's the symptoms is like just use umbrella.
I actually, it was in the wintertime and I distinctly remember

(06:29):
it because I was waiting on the corner.
I was actually working at University of Chicago and they
had a shuttle. I started to feel this heat in
the middle of my body and I knewthat my face was turning red,
but it was winter. I'm all bundled up.
People started getting close to me.
I'm high kidding you. I was giving off 8.
I was glad to give it away, but it was so weird.

(06:50):
And then it happened a week or so later and I was actually
inside the building. I didn't have all of these
clothes on and stuff. And I'm like, oh, holy cow.
I felt my face getting red. Literally had all this
perspiration and it just, it comes on and it it stays for at
least a minute and then it leaves.
And then you're cold. You're cold and you're cranky
and you need chocolate. From the clinical side, were you

(07:12):
prepared for fair menopause justknowing that based on your
experience? It's.
Yes and no. The symptoms?
Yes and no. You know what the symptoms could
be, but it's so personalized, some of these women, and I hate
you because gosh darn it, you just had these mild symptoms and
you just went on with your happylife.
So not everybody has the same degree of symptoms.

(07:35):
And that's another thing too. It's like you can't even ask
your best friend, how are you doing with this?
I'm doing fine. Great for you.
But those of us have gone to thestronger symptoms and the more
diverse symptoms. You just don't know where this
is coming from, and you do actually start to doubt
yourself. You're like, OK, wait, I don't
want to go to work ever again. I can't find anything.

(07:56):
And everyone is irritating me. It's like, I just want to line
up and have everybody just do batting practice.
These bad moods just come out ofnowhere.
I'm not a bad mood person. She's kind hearted and always
funny. I realize for perimenopause it
doesn't always show up neatly onlab results, right?
It's a pattern. It doesn't.
It's a cluster of changes, and most medical doctors aren't

(08:17):
trained to look at the full picture.
That is so true. And I'll tell you the truth,
they have one or two things thatare basically this is what,
yeah, we're going to use here. Whereas like I noticed with
Mindful Objective, you have thiswhole collection of lab tests,
It looks at these things all in a big picture, which I was very
impressed with. But when you go to the regular
doctors, you're right. Even me myself going or OK,

(08:39):
where am I at? And it's big picture because I'm
tired of this. They only give you like one,
maybe 2 blood tests. They barely explain it.
And that's the downside is they might run labs, but they're not
in depth labs, right? No, they are not.
And that's where we correlate that information.
Just because one lab marker is off doesn't mean there's actual
issue. You have to correlate the
different lab markers together to find out the actual issue.

(09:02):
From an integrative health standpoint, we focus on a
totality of a woman's experience, not just her cycle
or her labs. We always ask about sleep
quality, stress and cortisol levels, liver function,
detoxification, nutrient status,especially B vitamins, magnesium
and zinc, blood sugar regulation.
We also do functional testing like a Dutch hormone panel.
This will show you what's reallygoing on throughout your day,

(09:24):
not just at 8:00 AM when a single blood draw is taken.
And that's where it's usually atfrom a clinical perspective of
exactly, hey, just run your labsthis morning and yeah, I didn't
see anything wrong. But they don't look at your
whole lifestyle habits, emotional patterns, stress,
resilience, because those directly influence hormonal
transitions. Absolutely.
And I was going to say, what I've heard on your other
podcasts is when you go for these lab tests and you're

(09:47):
expecting an answer or an explanation and you get, well,
it's normal. And then I've heard you say over
and over, normal is not optimal.I want to be optimal, yes.
And if I am no better off than before I took this blood test?
Oh, you're normal now what? Now I don't know what to do.
Exactly because you run out of thoughts to a lot of people.
Just listen to the medical doctor and like you said, oh

(10:10):
your blood test come back normalthen you get frustrated.
What is wrong? And there's a lot of remedies,
if you will, and the drug storesand in this one little section,
and I hesitate to even think about those because how does it
react with the other things going on in your body?
How do you know you should take it?
Are they regulated? It really scares me that they

(10:32):
have these kind of remedies. Do you go and buy them?
Go home? I think it's dangerous.
I think a lot of people blindly supplement, right?
And they're not sure what they need.
Again, their medical doctor saysthey feel normal.
Or you may be having low estrogen, like your lab work
from a medical doctor might comeback and say your estrogen's on

(10:54):
the low side, but it's normal. You're fine.
Again, that's not that's not helpful.
No, it's not helpful. Normal perimenopause is not a
medical emergency. It's a shift.
Don't let us get that far. Yeah, you want to definitely
rebalance your body before things become more difficult
down the road. Absolutely.
So from a personal conventional medicine perspective, have you
ever experienced a medical doctor talk about looking into

(11:15):
what we look at from an integrative side?
I've never heard a medical doctor even reference no.
Because they definitely don't look at the.
Roots. I don't think they're reversed
enough in it. No, and it's no fault of their
own. It's just that's their education
and that's different. Career paths, You're a hammer.
Everything's a nail. Yes, You have to look at the
whole person. This has been such an eye

(11:36):
opening experience for me because all this time I've been
conventional. Is it repeatable?
Is it scientific? It is it something that that's
been proven? But I'm realizing that in the
conventional world, it's a very narrow view, correct?
It's a narrow view. Would you be OK if it was
correct? But it's not because there's so

(11:57):
much other things there. You know, we're spirits on the
body. You have to look at a bigger
picture. I want the whole picture.
Especially when you go in for these menopausal blood labs and
things like that. Maybe that one tester, those two
tests, it's just not enough. Because they definitely don't
look at the full picture of the root cause.
And two, you did run those different labs and normally if

(12:19):
you did just blood work, it would have came back.
Oh, this is fine. You're again on that low side.
You might be high here just to eat a balanced diet, but what's
the actual root cause of that? If you're born with cerebral
palsy, Down syndrome, right, youhave that.
But a lot of these other things,there's a root cause behind it.
You got to approach it properly and see that whole picture and
understand how do I fix and correct my nutrition and what

(12:42):
supplements do I need to take and is it long term versus short
term and what's the benefit going to be by rebalance in that
body? And I'd like to make a point,
but some of us are so sick of taking pills.
I don't want to be on something forever, OK?
I would rather have the option to rebalance, get to a point

(13:03):
where I can wean off of that andgo on with my life.
Nobody wants to haul around a bag of pills with them all the
time. I've seen so many patients and
you're taking their history and they give this bag to you.
They don't even know what it is.They know when they're supposed
to take it. Just this whole option and this
idea of wait, let's see where you are.

(13:23):
Let's see how we can rebalance. And you know what?
You might not have to be on thatlifelong.
For my example outside of migraines is high blood
pressure. I had high blood pressure my
whole life and doctors right away they don't test your heart
or anything and say you know what, take a blood pressure
medication or water pill. But for me, I took berberine and
it ended up being my blood pressure is normal now and it

(13:43):
was due to insulin resistance. Nothing wrong with my heart.
So it's like a lot of things people don't know.
And again, it's education. That's what we're here for.
So the next segment we're going to talk about is actual
menopause, more than just hot flashes.
By definition, menopause begins after 12 consecutive months
without a period. For many women, this occurs
between ages of 45 and 55, but the transition varies widely.

(14:05):
The term menopause is often usedto describe everything from the
mood changes to weight gain, butit's just one phase in a much
broader hormonal story. So what's actually happening?
Estrogen and progesterone levelscontinue to drop, sometimes
dramatically, affecting everything from metabolism to
brain function. Testosterone is often declines
as well, contributing to loss ofmuscle mass, decreased libido

(14:26):
and fatigue. And symptoms of menopause
usually are hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, joint
stiffness, poor concentration, anxiety, skin and hair thinning,
insomnia, digestive issues. So burn a dit.
Burn a dit. From a perspective as an RN and
someone who lived through this, how were you taught to approach

(14:49):
menopause in a clinical setting and how did you compare to your
personal experience? And if you want to touch on how
you ended up in menopause? Oh, sure.
I was actually having some problems with the monthly
periods and of course I'm going in every year to get exams and
stuff like that. And the one thing that everyone
drives is that phone call that says your pap smear is abnormal.

(15:11):
So the first thing you're going to do is repeat the pap smear.
OK, Came back abnormal a second time.
So now what they want to do is take a biopsy.
You never want to hear that phone call.
You need a biopsy at this point.Went in, they found cancer and
gave me some options. First of all, surgical.
And they said, well, here's the scary part.
They say we don't know exactly how far spread it is, so we're

(15:34):
going to have to do other testing and other imaging.
And that is awful to hear that and have to wait and then and do
that. But once they determine for me
that it was pretty much contained, they did go ahead and
do the hysterectomy. And that puts you immediately in
menopause. And I think it was, what, 36
about? Yeah, maybe 36.
Here's another thing, When you're given that option and

(15:58):
you're looking at your two kids and you're thinking, jeez, I do
not want to repeat this. But as soon as you find out that
you can't repeat it and there's an unspoken mourning and a
grieving there because now you can't.
And I don't think anybody talks about that now the options gone,
but you'll be living. It's not an easy thing.
It's actually, it turned your life upside down.

(16:20):
I literally started nursing school like a month after my
hysterectomy. And I think in a way it helped
me to be more sympathetic to patients.
But there were some things I liked, OK, I didn't have to do
the monthly thing every month, so OK, I like that.
But you still have all of those things that we mentioned
earlier, from the night sweats to the flashes being hot and

(16:43):
cold to the mood swings, and youdon't know where it's coming
from. A People think you're absolutely
nuts. Should I go to a therapist?
Should I now go on and get something like an antidepressant
or something like that? And you think you're absolutely
crazy, but it's all under this umbrella and it takes a while to
adjust. And I don't think people

(17:03):
understand, men and women how important hormones are to the
body and how to properly check, because medical doctors do not
properly check your hormones. Yeah, if you go to a hormone
clinic, they will, because that's what they specialize in.
That's all they do all day long.But outside of that, most
medical doctors do not review any detail.
List, you have to have symptoms or you insist on it.

(17:26):
You have to ask for a go after it.
You're not just going to be offered that.
And I think that's why hormonal clinics are so popular nowadays.
You could go online, order hormones, get on testosterone
replacement, hormone replacementtherapy, progesterone so easily
nowadays. And it's true, obviously a
medical provider, but that theseclinics are just hormone clinics
and it's just like pump and dump.

(17:46):
And did they take anybody on? And is it a money making scheme
or are they really helping people?
I think it's like 50-50. You have the places that are
just doing it to make a quick buck and just because your
levels are low or not optimal orsometimes your levels are fine,
but you just have symptoms. So right away they'll prescribe
hormones for you. And So what does that do to
people long term, right? It damages their body more

(18:07):
because that's not the root cause at issue.
In my experience being in the medical appeal for all of these
years is that when you go to conventional medicine, and I
love my doctor, but the Band-Aidis the first thing that happens.
The Band-Aid. And even I've seen people who
start on one medication and because of the side effects of
that, now another medication andbecause the side effects of that

(18:28):
now another medication. And it seems like this endless
list of let's treat the symptom.When do we get to the root?
And I think the other side of that too is medical doctors do
not do research on the connection between all those
medications and what they're doing to the body.
So that's where you're your own advocate.
You have to do that research if you're going in.

(18:50):
A lot of people go in and say, Ihave this symptom.
And your doctors, just based on looking at a book or their
contract with insurance companies, they say, OK, for
this symptom, you take this medication.
They don't ever say why do you even have that symptom?
So that's why we look at the root cause.
This exactly where integrative health excels in this field is
we don't just ask what can we give her for her symptoms like
medical doctors. Instead we ask what's her body

(19:11):
trying to tell us? Is her blood sugar crashing at
night? Is she low on magnesium or B6,
both critical for harm hormone metabolism?
Is her liver sluggish, contributing to estrogen buildup
or poor clearance? Is there microbiome inflamed
leading to poor estrogen recycling in her Microbiome
inflamed, leading to poor estrogen recycling via estrogen?

(19:32):
We might recommend magnesium glycinate for sleep, DIM and
calcium dechlorinate for estrogen detox, DIM and calcium
D glucorate for estrogen detox, ashwagandha, rhodiola for
adrenal support, Omega threes and protein and help the brain
function and mood. So menopause isn't failure of
the body, it's the reset point where women are empowered with
the right tools. It could become a time of

(19:54):
incredible mental clarity, creative and growth just based
on that. I think a lot of people do not
know the difference originally between perimenopause and
menopause, right? To save yourself a lot of
anxiety and fear because all of these symptoms that come up, do
not go to Google. Do not ask your mama's brothers,
cousins, and sister-in-law. Don't do that.

(20:15):
You need to go to someone who can look at the whole picture.
These doctors, I'm going to be honest with you because I've
worked with them so much. They have a schedule now.
You're probably not getting in at your time, and that's OK
because the person before you was talking too much.
But I'm telling you something. They are on a schedule.
They're supposed to produce. It's a business, OK?

(20:37):
I'm just be honest with you. It's a business, OK?
They're going to pretty much putyou into this little form
meaning, OK, these are the symptoms, This is what we're
taught. This is how I think I can help
you, and it's all performed. It's performed and they are on a
schedule. They get bonuses based on this.

(20:59):
They get Dings if they if they don't see enough people.
I'm telling you, it's a business.
Yeah, for sure. And the next thing we're going
to touch on too is the emotionalside, identity, confidence and
those mood swings. Yes.
So one of the most underrated, discussed aspects of menopause
isn't physical, it's emotional. Exactly.
The hormone shifts that happenedduring a period of menopause and
menopause can affect neurotransmitters like serotonin

(21:21):
and dopamine, which directly influence mood, confidence and
motivation, and emotional resilience.
A lot of women often describe this feeling as irritable, less
confident, disconnected from identity or indifferent about
things they once loved, more prone to crying and anxiety.
All things I don't want. I'll tell you what One of the
worst things that happened to you during menopause has to do

(21:44):
with your hair. Your mustache is better than
your husband's, and that's problematic a lot.
And your hair on your head is thinning.
There's nothing worse for a woman than to have that thinning
hairline. It's terrible.
It takes all of your confidence away.
It really does an awful, awful thing.
The other thing is you don't know what is going to set you
off. You are trying to be a normal,

(22:07):
nice person, but anything can really just set you off.
It's that emotional thing that just kicks in.
You don't want to be like that. It's almost like you have the
right to remain silent, but you do not have the ability That
thing. But that hair thing, let me tell
you, you got have hair on your chin, you have hair on your
upper lip. It is terrible.

(22:28):
It's not just about being Moody.These are real, biochemically
driven changes that deeply impact relationships, careers,
and even yourself worth. From a clinical perspective, how
is the emotional impact of menopause typically treated?
I don't think that's even talkedabout.
I think that if you have any emotional symptoms at all, they
don't connect it with that. They just connect it with Ohio.
You're in your 50s. Oh, you have this pressure and

(22:51):
that pressure and this pressure around you, like you're taking
care of your parents. You also have your own kids.
You're still working. They don't really connect it I
don't think. Say you went to your medical
doctor and you told them I'm having these symptoms, I'm
crabby all the time, all this stuff.
You're kind of withdrawn from people and stuff too.
I imagine the first thing they do is maybe you need an
antidepressant or? Behavioral Health.

(23:12):
Yeah. Referral.
Behavioral Health. You have menopause or the doctor
will say you have menopause, paraimenopause, but it sounds
like you have depression now, sotake a pill.
So rather than saying, OK, let'slook at that root cause, are you
deficient? Any, you know, nutrition, how's
your diet? How's any of that stuff?
Can we address your symptoms based on deficiencies?

(23:33):
They don't. And again, they're not trained
in that, so they do not look at that.
But can you minimize the symptoms based on
supplementation and nutrition? And a lot of times the answer is
yes. Like nothing's perfect and each
individual person's going to respond differently, but there
are things you could do. Well, if it's actually this long
term decrease of these things that you need, why wouldn't you

(23:56):
try to replace some of that? We're looking at a decrease
going in. I think the thing goes back to
education. A lot of people just don't know
that they're just blindly followwhat their medical doctor says.
I always think about that from the same aspect of blindly
following something on social media.
Exactly. And here's the sad part too.
If you go in there and respectfully, you're having this

(24:17):
kind of back and forth with the doctor, they can get very testy.
I'm not trying to say that you don't know something.
I'm just trying to say can you explain it a little better?
I'm not really getting that. I'm trying to show you the
bigger picture here, but I don'tknow if you're hearing me and
they get really testy. It's a different world and it
depends who they're employed by and their goals.
That's why I don't blame a lot of medical doctors.

(24:38):
They understand or see the symptom and understand this is a
treatment for that symptom. They not familiar with what a
root cause is or what it does. Luckily I go to a medical
provider that into Ayurveda and stuff.
Also same with his patients. He would refer them over to us
or he would try not to give any kind of medications or extra
testing when it's really not needed.

(25:00):
And you don't see a lot of medical doctors like that
because it's a business for them.
What if we believe Ecclesiastes,where it says there's nothing
new under the sun? Maybe these kind of nutrients
and supplements have been here the whole time in different
forms and people have been usingthem.
Here's a soup, it'll make you feel better or whatever, and

(25:21):
maybe it's been there the whole time.
Where did pharmaceuticals come from there?
A synthetic form of what was already here.
Exactly. You didn't invent anything.
Yeah, but you can't patent a plant.
Use it if you know how. The kind of emotional fog is
incredibly common. That's why integrative looks
beyond prescription to address at the deeper roots.
Here's how often we evaluate this.
Is cortisol patterns right? Chronic stress and flat line

(25:43):
cortisol can feel like depression.
Neural transmitter support aminoacids like L tyrosine or five
HTP may help naturally. B vitamin status B6, folate, B12
are crucial for mood and energy progesterone levels.
Low progesterone can lead to anxiety and restless sleep.
So these are things that normal medical doctor will not look at.
For sure. Yeah, so we also focus on

(26:05):
reclaiming identity, right? Many women have spent decades
and nurturing others. Kids, partners, careers.
Menopause can feel like the first time they ask, what do I
need? Tools like journaling, somatic
therapy, breath work and coaching help reconnect them
with themselves now for emotional grounding when hormone
ground is shifting beneath them,right?
So menopause isn't just biological shift.

(26:25):
That's a spiritual and psychological transition too.
And it deserves support at everylevel from everybody.
Every menopausal woman listeningto this right now just said
thank you, Doctor Sprole, thank you for recognizing that after I
went through the periods and thechildbirth and the breastfeeding
and then the menopause and all of that stuff, now you're going

(26:47):
to do something for me. Thank you.
The next part we got to talk about though is what about men?
We got to understand andropause Mars.
A lot of people don't know the word andropause, they're just
hear menopause and think only women go through it.
But while women face a well defined hormone transition, men
experience their own version, a slower, quieter process often
referred to as andropause. How many people you think know

(27:09):
about that? I.
Think all the men are so quiet? There's one in my life that
isn't quiet at all. Speaking on that, your husband,
he's on the medical field too. For how long?
He's been in the medical field for, I don't know, 30, almost 40
years, but he's not quiet at all.
He's not quiet. I can tell when he's getting to
that point. Maybe it is.
Andrew, pause. We've had this conversation

(27:29):
before. Are you going to do like that?
Are you going to wear that? Do you realize how close you are
to that car? I told you before, what's
happening here? I think what happens is their
medicine is lows. They go into the lows and they
get happy. Yeah, we know that with Geraldo,
right? He loves the hard work starts.
Hey, this is your medicine. Unlike menopause, where estrogen

(27:49):
and progesterone levels drop significantly, andropause
involves a gradual decline in testosterone, often beginning in
the late 30s, early 40s. By the time a man reaches his
50s and 60's, the effects can bepronounced.
So common signs of andropause include lower libido, erectile
changes, loss of muscle mass, increased belly fat, mood
changes, irritability, poor motivation or focus, fatigue,

(28:12):
and poor sleep. Good one because we just tested
you and your husband. When we look at that, how many
times did his medical doctor because how old is your husband?
63. In 63 years, how often did a
medical doctor, at age say 63, now test his testosterone?
Not since I've been with them, not since 2011.

(28:32):
No. See they do the PSA.
Yes. And that's it's like there's a
standard PSA, you're good go. They never check hormones at
all. No, as we age our testosterone
stuff declined like it says hereand.
We feel sorry for him now, he's got a reason.
Yeah, Andrew. Geez Louise.
It's a different world. A lot of people don't know, but
that's. Why make a man like Bossy
though? That's the big pickup truck.

(28:54):
It's like a lot of men, like even in their 30s, forties and
stuff, have symptoms of low testosterone, but their medical
provider does not check. And regardless how many times
you say, oh, I want to check my testosterone, Oh no, you're
fine. Because we hear all the time a
guy will go to their provider and say, I want to check my
testosterone because of these symptoms.
And they'll say, are you still getting erections?

(29:15):
And if they say yes, doctor, oh,you're fine, you don't need
anything. And that's ridiculous.
We test them and find their testosterone is very low.
So there are different things and different symptoms for
different people. Just like women.
Men and women have different symptoms, not just based on lab
work, but there are different hormonal changes and stuff that
need to be addressed. And again, you want to be not
just OK, you want to be optimal.And to stay on point, when my

(29:37):
husband had this testing done byyou and he got back those
results and you start explainingto him, you know what I did feel
like, oh, OK, I get it now. And now we have the supplements
and now we can actually do something about it.
It's not being swept under the rug.
It was explained to us and it was an eye opener because we
didn't know that. We didn't know the kind of lab

(29:59):
results that he was going to get.
If anybody out there listens to the podcast prior to this one
episode 36 about testosterone replacement therapy, there's
different avenues on why and different root causes on why
your testosterone and hormones are low, right?
It could be based on nutrition. Not everybody needs hormone
replacement therapy. Some do, right?
Because actual health issues, but other ones it's just based

(30:21):
on nutrition. So if you get vitamin D3UP high
enough, you get DHA up high enough, zinc high enough, a lot
of times to your testosterone will increase.
But for those people that do actually have a medical
condition, hypogonadism and so forth, they may need
testosterone replacement therapies.
It all depends, but that's wherefunctional lab testing is so
important. Obviously you're a nurse for a

(30:42):
long time. Did you ever work with any men
when it comes to any kind of settings like this or?
I worked in urology for a while.OK, So we had impotence and we
had all kinds of issues, urinaryissues, stuff like that.
Endoscopies. Yeah.
So I did work in urology for a while.
Because it could affect young men and older men too.
For the most aspect of all, older people.

(31:03):
Not really, because UFC University of Chicago is like
like a Mecca, so people with unusual kind of things going on
would go there too. So no, wasn't all older men was
pretty much a mix? Gotcha.
From an integrative standpoint versus clinical, we take a
deeper dive. We test the total and free
testosterone, SHBGDHEA, estradiol, insulin and cortisol.

(31:26):
We assess sleep patterns, nutrient levels, gut health.
The gut health was big for your husband, right?
Especially seeing an organic acid test to find out.
That was a big deal because likeyou were explaining to us, if
there's a coating on the lining of your stomach, it doesn't
matter what you're taking and how often, it's not going to
absorb to nothing. So if you do that and address
that first, now your supplementsare going to be doing something.

(31:49):
Yeah, and that's a big deal. And that's where testosterone
could raise, right? You address the gut health
issues and the absorption issues.
Now you're eating properly, or at least now you know how to
properly eat because we saw thatbetween both your test is you
may need a lot of meat where he does not need a lot of meat and
people don't know that it without that functional lab test
of organic acid test or stool test, you're not going to know

(32:12):
if you have candida or bacteria overgrowth, fungus overgrowth.
And you're not going to know that your body's not absorbing
stuff such as if you have normalvitamin C, but your husband's
vitamin C levels are 0, even if they take vitamin C, what's the
reason for that? Because Candida overgrowth.
So again, there's a lot of ways to address this, but we look at
that bigger picture. We look at blood sugar
dysregulation, which is often a hidden cause of low

(32:34):
testosterone, exploit lifestyle factors, chronic stress,
alcohol, poor diet that suppresshormone production.
Rather than jumping straight to TRT, we have to start with
foundational support, zinc, magnesium, vitamin D for natural
hormone production, for Gonda, for testosterone, stress
resilience, high protein diets and strength training to build
muscle and increase testosteronenaturally.

(32:55):
It's individualized, so not everybody's going to have the
same outcome. As we saw with your husband, he
does not need to eat a lot of meat versus somebody else that's
going to need to eat a lot to increase testosterone.
No, think it right now about thecandida overgrowth.
And this is maybe a factor in you're taking a certain
medication and every year it goes up and up because you get
less and less absorbed. We hear about get a colonoscopy,

(33:17):
get APSA, get a breast exam, butyou never hear about let's check
and see what your stomach liningis because nothing is helping
you if you have to go up and your levels of medication,
didn't you look at your gut? Didn't you just take a minute
and look at what's happening? And you hear more and more
people because the research that's coming out about your gut

(33:38):
is your second brain. No wonder it's so big.
It's very important to address gut issues and a lot of people
do not because a medical doctor does not look at your gut issue
exactly. Because even if you go for a
colonoscopy and stuff and they say, oh, you have high stomach
acid or whatever for the different scopes and stuff, or
you have polyps or whatever, they do not address, OK, you
have Candida, you have this bacterial overgrowth, your, your

(33:58):
body's not absorbing these nutrients.
They will not address any of that.
They will not discuss it. And again, I don't blame any
medical doctor. It's not their career path.
It's not what they do. So Andrea Pause still does
deserve as much as tension as menopause.
A lot of people need to know that men go through things too,
you hear? Same with men.
Women are in their period at times.
And then men have these same symptoms of their crabby They're

(34:22):
this. They're getting people.
Yeah. They get hungry for some kind of
food or taste for something. And a lot of times, maybe
they're going through their monthly cycle, too.
Yeah. Oh, totally believe it.
Totally believe. So when men are educated and
supported. The dish of chocolate that I'm
OK, we're done. For sure, but when men are
educated and supported, they experience this transition as a

(34:42):
reset, not a decline. With age it's a different way,
but things got to get addressed for both men and women.
Oh great. Building your menopause and
andropause plan. Let's talk about that.
So most people walk into these transitions with 0 preparation.
But just like any major life event, planning can make a
massive difference. Menopause and andropause support
plan should include personalizedbased on labs, symptoms and

(35:04):
lifestyle, multiple dimensional supporting physical, emotional,
cognitive health, being flexible, able to adapt to these
body changes. I think it has to come from both
sides, right? If you're married, the men and
women need to understand what the other person's going
through. Oh absolutely.
And I was just going to say, even after I hysterectomy and
they do the post op visit, I waspretty much told you're not

(35:26):
going to get and you don't need chemo radiation, you're not
going to get any replacement supplements.
So you're on your own and you don't have to get any more pap
smears because there's nothing there.
So it's I'm just, I was just on my own.
That was it. That was the explanation.
That was it. Do you think it'd be different
if it was through like a hormoneclinic and you're getting a
medical? Absolutely.

(35:48):
I never had a hormone test untilwe came to you and we had to do
the mindful. That's sad because my should be
running these labs. And don't you think so?
That's why I'm on my own, because I had a surgery and now
I'm done. You had to think, like you said,
they don't have time and they'rebusy enough just treating a
symptom, so why are they going to look at the root cause?
Again, from an integrative health perspective, we're

(36:09):
subclinical, so we look for the root 'cause we don't treat
anything. We'll understand your symptom,
but say, OK, what's causing it? Symptoms.
If you're born with Down syndrome, you have Down
syndrome. But if you suddenly at age 35
start getting migraines, so there's a root cause or you
started randomly getting hot flashes, what's the root cause
of that? It's not because you just
randomly got some health disease.

(36:29):
And that's why I think a lot of people understand.
They blindly think their medicaldoctor is there to heal them,
and that's not what a medical doctor does.
Correct. The medical doctor is there to
get you by treat the symptoms you do have, the ones that look
at the integrative lens and say,you know what, there's more to
this. I don't want to give you this
medication because it has these side effects.

(36:50):
I suggest you reach out and get a health coach or something just
or nutritionist and work on yournutrition.
You may come across those doctors, but they're more rare.
I do think more medical doctors are now seeing clients decide,
hey, I don't want just a Band-Aid approach.
I want the root cause. But that's where your medical
doctor come back and say, you know what?

(37:11):
I technically don't have time todo this, so I'm going to refer
you to somebody else. Exactly.
And my experience is if you go to a doctor and you say your
symptoms and you get testing andthey give you a treatment no
matter what it is, if you come back after the treatment and you
feel better, even if it's marginal, they feel like they
did their job. That is my.

(37:32):
Experience and that's why I'd say I never blame medical
doctors. It's just not what they do.
It's different from what an integrative health coach does.
An integrative health practitioner versus a medical
practitioner. That's just a different world we
live in. And can we focus on that root
cause and nutrition as the primary objective versus a
doctor just treating the symptoms.
So definitely different now thatyou lived through menopause and

(37:55):
worked with so many others. What would you tell somebody
just starting their journey, whether it's a man or a woman?
I would say make a list of your symptoms and when you go into
the doctor, get a clear explanation.
If you're not happy with it, if you didn't understand it, don't
let them off the hook. They're there to at least give

(38:15):
you an explanation. If I was going to do it all over
again and I knew Doctor Sprole, I would go for the panel of
testing so I could get a full picture.
I never felt like I got a full picture.
I got treated and I was pretty much put on my own.
I survived, but I don't feel like I had the full picture

(38:35):
until I recently had these tests.
So I would say get the full picture.
And you think a lot of people donot have to go through a lot of
these major symptoms if they canbalance their body?
I know a lot of people do get upset at their medical providers
because, oh, I went to this doctor, they said there's
nothing wrong, but I know there's something wrong with me
and they don't get the attentionthey deserve.

(38:57):
And that's why you see people shop around from doctor to
doctor or from specialist to specialist, because I think a
lot of medical doctors too, they're trained certain aspects,
certain aspects they don't know,I don't know hormones.
So you're going to have to see ahormone specialist.
And then if you go to some of these hormone specialist,
they're like, but in this clinical setting, you have night
sweats and this you need hormonereplacement therapy.

(39:19):
OK, But I could I address these naturally.
We're not going to look at that.We're just going to give you
this. Do you want it or not?
Do you take the good and the bad?
And it's depends what do you want to go through?
And a lot of people, I tell themyou're spending a lot of money
just by using insurance. And a lot of people think on
integrative health side because we do cash credit card only.
Our fees are so much cheaper than medical and it's cheaper

(39:40):
than using medical insurance. But a lot of people just want to
use their medical insurance. That was an eye opener for my
husband and myself because we'vebeen through it on both sides
now, on both sides of being a patient and being the provider,
giving, doing things for people.What an eye opener for the money
that we invested in learning more about what we were going

(40:02):
through. Spent.
Oh yeah, spent. Could you think to say we run an
organic acid test on your stomach issues, We look at that
and say, OK, here's imbalances here, here's where you low on
neurotransmitters, here's where this issue is with your
different vitamins, here's wherethere's fungal overgrowth versus
going through five different specialists with all scopes.
Exactly. Just to say, take an antacid.

(40:24):
Exactly Madding. Yeah, but you hear the pain
people get through, or they wentthrough, did the scope, and now
it tore their insides. And that does happen.
And it wasn't even needed because it was an issue with
bacterial overgrowth in their stomach.
It's a definitely scary world, but that's what we're trying to
educate people to understand. There's more out there, there's
cheaper solutions that are more in depth.
And we're very focused on looking at that big picture and

(40:49):
getting right to the issue versus going through all these
specialists and spending all this money because people gladly
use insurance to spend $3000 to have the scope done to find out
everything's normal. And they'll be happy with that
information. But it's anymore ahead, No.
Do you feel any better? Yeah, that and then they still
feel horrible after the fact andthey were told everything's
normal. What's the actual issue?

(41:10):
Because I'm having all these problems with loading and stuff
like that too. And again, it's based on
education. So that's where we do it from a
perspective of not using insurance.
And the difference is when you, we do not use insurance, we're
able to run any tests we want. So we can run these different
organic acid tests, we can run different lab work, functional
labs and stuff to that a medicaldoctor can't run because one,

(41:32):
insurance isn't going to cover it and then two, it's not in
their contract. They're not allowed to run
certain tests. The other thing that that my
husband and I were really impressed with was the testing
that we received that let us know which foods we were more
sensitive to. We had no clue.
We had no clue at all. And that was some really some

(41:52):
good information because it's like all this time we're eating
this and eating that. And now when we saw this chart
where some of these foods were creating sensitivities, it was
an eye opener. I say the two main tests we
always do is initial food sensitivity test and then the
secondary is organic acid test because usually those two paint
a great picture. Then outside of that, if it's

(42:12):
hormone related, we'll run a hormone panel integrative care.
The support might look like running a Dutch panel or our in
depth blood work as such as you guys ran using food as medicine,
track your protein, fiber, micronutrient intake.
Think that's another issue is a lot of people do not track or
understand what they're eating on a daily basis and a lot of
things they're eating, like you said with your food sensitivity

(42:34):
test, how many of those things were you eating on a daily basis
and you shouldn't be having them?
Exactly. Eye opener.
If you went to the medical doctor and said you have
bloating, do they say hey, let'srun a food sensitivity test on
your nutrition? No, not at all.
We can go anywhere from imaging to surgery to maybe this is just
something that happened due to did you fall or are you bleeding

(42:57):
internally? They're not going to treat you
like that at all. It's telling you something.
Like you've said in a lot of your other podcasts, your body
is talking to you. We always say prioritize sleep,
stress management, muscle building workouts, journaling,
or working with a coach to uncover emotional blocks and
goals. No important.
For men, it's the same, build a road map, don't wait until

(43:17):
symptoms are so severe. Invest in testing in your
community and supportive strategies early on.
And the other aspect of it too is my saying I always say is if
you can't afford to be healthy, you definitely can't afford to
be sick. Oh yeah.
But people wait until their symptoms are so bad to where
they address it. I have to say my other complaint

(43:38):
is a lot of people love to vent about their health issues and
they care so much about their health, but they do not invest
in themselves. OK.
So this is what we call secondary gains.
Do you know what that is? No, they don't explain it.
So secondary gains is I'm going to tell you that I'm sick and
I'm going to give you my symptoms.
So I'm not going to do anything about it because if I don't do

(43:58):
anything about it, one, you'll feel sorry for me.
Two, I won't have to do things that I don't want to do.
I won't have to participate in certain things.
I can have an excuse for things.It's a secondary gain.
I got it and I don't like it, but because I got it, I get out
of stuff that's secondary gains.That makes sense and that a lot
across the board and that's why I always said I do not
understand that. People do vent a lot and I

(44:21):
understand people like to complain and stuff too, but they
do not take their health seriousuntil something wrong.
And like we said before, when's your health important to you?
Is it when you get cancer? Is it when you can't walk
anymore? Is it when you're on 15
different pharmaceuticals? Like when's it important to you
as an individual? And I think a lot of people
just, oh, I don't have time. They don't take their health

(44:42):
seriously. Exactly.
They have no problem showing up to work and work in hazardous
jobs and doing all this eating junk, but they don't focus on
their health. And that's you'll realize that
when you're older, how importantyour health is.
Absolutely you will. And, and if you're married, you
know what, you owe it to your husband or to your wife to be
the best physical shape that youcan.
You don't want to get to retirement and now you're not

(45:05):
able to do what you had planned to do.
That's just, that's not fair. And you don't want to feel that,
OK, you want to feel optimal. And that's.
What you want to have that energy, you want to have that
like get up and go, you know, when you finally get to that
point and you're with your husband and your wife and it's
OK, Now we can do those things that we planned.
And you want to be that 70's, the new 30s.
Exactly. That's where it's like you had

(45:26):
to look at hormones and say, OK,am I tired all the time because
of this? I think a lot of people too, you
hear that about tiredness and all that stuff too.
I think a lot of it relates to nutrition because they're not
eating properly or enough. Oh, for sure.
So they're not getting that balance of nutrition there and
it just takes effect on your body.
Not a lot of people understand how important nutrition is.
They just know I need to eat, but they don't understand what

(45:48):
it's doing to their body until it's too late.
And to that end, I just want to say when you were recommending a
protein drink for us, there's a lot of times when I know I
should eat. I don't feel like it.
I have this love, hate relationship with food, but I
will always have the protein drink.
So it's a way to get those nutrients.
And it's, you know what? There's always a way to do it.

(46:09):
I tell people always at least todo what we recommend as those
foundational supplements, multivitamin, vitamin CB
complex, vitamin D3 with K2, zinc, Omega 3.
So if people get those, they'll actually be well-rounded there.
And then they could address their other deficiencies, but at
least they'll help balance basicnutrition and get them on the

(46:30):
right path. And then from there we could
tweak it just to get to the optimal stage.
So again, it takes time. Healing's not overnight.
And the other thing with medicalside is client patient has no
issues going to a medical doctor, taking a pill.
Here's a pharmaceutical, it's going to take three months to
start working. That could be anxiety,
depression, whatever. They listen, take it for three

(46:50):
months. But then on the integrative side
here, you're low on vitamin D and vitamin D is a hormone and
it really affects your body. Same with zinc.
And your levels are very low. Start taking this.
They take it for a month or evenweeks and say, oh, it doesn't do
anything. I stopped taking it.
I don't get that concept. I understand that they just
solely trust our medical doctors, but how many of those

(47:10):
people that purely rely on theirmedical doctors have the worst
symptoms? They're always in pain, they're
always having health issues, They're always going back to
their doctor, always going on a new prescription.
I've never heard somebody go to medical doctor and then leave
that and say, man, I feel the best I ever felt in my life.
I'm going to start working out again.
I'm going to start this. Have you ever heard that?
No. No, no, never.

(47:31):
I have never heard that. And here's the thing.
There's a time and a place for that.
You break your arm, you have a heart attack, you're going to
the hospital. OK, there's a time for that.
There's a there's things that they're really good at, but
there's other things. They don't see the whole
picture. They look at like the perimeter,
if you will, and if you're OK, if you're within the limits, if

(47:54):
your labs are in the limits, you're good.
So there's things that they do very well and there's other
things they just, they don't have the time, they don't have
the training, they don't have the initiative for it.
You just. If you want answers, you're
going to have to go somewhere else.
That's where we partner with different medical providers to
offer that additional support. We partner with our primary care

(48:14):
physician. So any of his clients, patients
that decide, hey, I don't want pharmaceuticals anymore or these
pharmaceuticals aren't helping, what could I do to better my
health? And they would refer them to us
and exactly. Instead of my husband getting
another pillow, another expensive mattress, another set

(48:34):
of insoles, OK, he actually wentkicking and screaming to a
chiropractor who was so fabuloushe signed up right away to come
back the next week because therewere some things that those
material things and at our primary care was not addressing.
I have hip pain. Our doctor didn't address that.

(48:56):
All of the insoles, all of the pillows, all of you know, the
match that we have is Stearns and Foster.
Don't be impressed by that. That was not helping his pain.
He went to the doctor you recommended.
He went to Doctor Tejada, and heimmediately felt better after
the first session. OK, there's some things that you

(49:17):
have to look beyond. What do you want to keep
spending on? And then the pillows and the
mattresses and all that stuff, go ahead.
But if you're not getting better, try something else.
If he went to medical vidor and said I have lower back pain and
he did and what would the doctorusually do?
Took an X-ray, said you're fine.Yeah, that or give you a pain
medication. Exactly.

(49:38):
She didn't want. That's the different options
there. That's why we focus on
integrative health and that's where chiropractors look and do
that same work. They focus on integrative
health, but on the spine. They understand nutrition and
stuff too, but they would still refer you over.
So we could address, run organicacid tests, all these other
tests while they're addressing your spine issues.
That's why we refer people over to Precision Healthcare, because

(49:59):
they're great at doing what theydo.
Absolutely, Absolutely. When's your health important to
you? And same with menopause
andropause. When's it important to you that
you're going to address these things?
Or are you just going to deal with the symptoms?
And if I was you, I would understand what my body's doing
so I could help address it so I don't have to have these
symptoms. And save your marriage.
Absolutely, I said to Doctor Tahad.

(50:20):
I just want to hug you right now.
Yeah, it's a different world once you start calling
chiropractor and you get the people that are afraid of
chiropractors, but it's because of miscellaneous.
Lack of. Knowledge and and there's a.
Can I tell you something that impressed me is that this isn't
some voodoo little Hut thing. You go in into professional
office, they take a full X-ray and show you what they're

(50:43):
looking at. Now for us being in the medical
field for so long, I'm like, look at that.
This is why you're limping like that.
And then he proceeded to put a 10s unit on them, and then he
put them on a table with all kinds of stuff that looked like
it came from Lowe's. And then he massaged them.
And that man came out of that office a different person.

(51:04):
And he did not get that in all the years going for a physical.
From a chiropractor perspective,they're focused on the spine and
realignment with the discs and stuff, while we focus on the
inside of the inflammation aspect of.
Which, by the way, since we've been taking the supplements that
you recommended, just really feeling better.
I was going to say, you look 10 years younger.

(51:25):
I'll pay you later. When you understand the why, the
what becomes far, far more easier.
That wraps up today's real talk on menopause and often ignore
conversation around the andropause use.
Thank you to Bernadette Tally, not just for a nursing
experience, but her vulnerability and sharing what
the transition was like from theinside out.
So thank you for being here, Bernadette.

(51:47):
Oh, thank you. Whether you're going through it,
preparing for it, or supporting someone who is, know this.
You're not broken. You're evolving, and there are
tools and strategies and supportsystems that actually work.
If today's episode helps, share it with someone who needs to
hear it. The information provided in this
podcast for educational purposesonly.
It's not intended to replace medical care, diagnose any
condition, or serve individualized health advice.

(52:09):
Always consult your licensed healthcare provider before
making any health decisions. We'll catch you next time on
Real Talk, where real healing always starts with an honest
conversation. Stay curious about your health
as you are the only one in charge and responsible for it.
Stay well.

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37 - Menopause / Andropause - Hormones, Midlife Shifts & What No One Tells You

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}37 - Menopause / Andropause - Hormones, Midlife Shifts & What No One Tells You